Guarantees at Zerokonferansen 2019

At Zerokonferansen 2019 (the Zero Emission Conference), the Norwegian Minister of International Development Dag-Inge Ulstein presented the government's proposal for a new guarantee scheme. The government will set aside up to NOK 300 million each year to provide better guarantees for companies investing in renewable energy in developing countries.

Photo: ZERO

The discussion around a Norwegian guarantee scheme has been going on for several years, and our CEO Terje Osmundsen has been one of the key proposers. ZERO, who organises Zerokonferansen, have also been an important driver of the guarantee scheme, and they had invited the Minister to launch the scheme at the conference. In the new proposal, the government suggests a two-folded scheme:

Partnering with one or two international guarantee providers to enhance the relevancy and availability for Norwegian companies, particularly those focusing on C&I, mini-grids and off-grids

At Zerokonferansen, Terje was invited to comment on the new proposal. Our calculations show that an annual allocation of NOK 500 million can trigger around NOK 10 billion in renewable energy investments in developing countries, corresponding to 1 GW of new installed solar capacity. This equals between 1.5 and 2 TWh of renewable electricity production per year - and avoidance of between 1 and 2 million tonn CO2 each year.

"It is a good start. I am convinced that when this gets started, you will see that you get so much development and clean energy for the money that the scheme will grow", said Terje to Bistandsaktuelt [in Norwegian only].